What Legacy Did Alexander the Great Leave Behind?

Alexander the Great’s actions and decisions have significantly impacted upon the world during his time, ultimately leaving behind a legacy that can be affiliated with the westernization of the globe. He helped bring the western civilization, which included the scientific and liberal thinking of the Greeks to much of the rest of the world. He introduced a study of science for science’s sake to the nations and he is also considered as one of the most successful military commanders in history, for by the time of his death he had conquered most of the world known as Ancient Greece.

However, his greatest achievement – which is to this day debated by scholars all over the globe – is his role in cultural diffusion. Contemporary scholars have viewed Alexander as a philosophical idealist, striving to create unity of man-kind by his so-called fusion of the races policy. He uplifted the status of ordinary human beings, or as Plato and Aristotle called them - barbarians, to the members of a polis –citizens as opposed to as just subjects. Alexander introduced tolerance to the Greeks and Macedonians. Through his liberal thinking he demonstrated that a Persian or any other race could be the equal of a Greek or Macedonian and participate equally in a mature government. It is clear that before such a revolution of thought, most Greeks and Macedonians followed the thoughts of Aristotle, who as previously mentioned, believe that Barbarians (who were particularly easterners and Persians) were menial, vile, treacherous and degenerate human beings fit to be only slaves of the Greeks. When Alexander passed away there was, by a combination of integration, his own authority and stats, the intermarriage with Asians and the appointment of Asians of offices. Thus it can be said that Alexander revolutionized the thinking of the Hellenistic world, which in conjunction with his vast conquests, expansions and education of his empire, not to mention being responsible for the physical and